Living Like It’s 1929

When my husband and I first began looking at homes, we made a list of criteria for our realtor to ensure we were only viewing homes we would both be happy to live in. Our list of wants was pretty long, but right there at the top of the list was the square footage: we wanted a small home that was around 1,000 square feet.

Fortunately, much of the housing stock in our part of Halifax is older and was built before the post-World War II era of expansion that sparked the rise in suburban development and helped the average home size balloon from 1,000 square feet in the early half of the 20th century to over 2,000 square feet today.

We had plenty of options to choose from and we wouldn’t have to settle for a condo with no green space (which was also high on the list) to achieve our goal of a small home.

Here’s why we intentionally chose to buy a small home.

Small Homes are More Affordable

When house hunting, most Canadians end up buying more home that they can’t truly afford. A combination of Canada’s lax lending laws and the shows propaganda on HGTV get people caught up in the idea that they need four bedrooms, granite countertops, and at least two bathrooms.

Seriously, I had to stop watching House Hunters because the home buyers would walk into a giant bedroom and say it was too small.

Those perks cost money, and most of the time they are unaffordable for the average first-time buyer.

I did not want to get caught up in this trap and end up with more home than I could afford. Based on my personal rule of not spending more than 35% of my net family income on housing, I had a very strict budget that I needed to adhere to. I also had very strong preferences about location, which meant that I’d need to be content with a smaller home in the right location.

With this in mind from the get-go, I let go of the idea of having a larger home. I knew it wouldn’t be possible, so I didn’t even look at any large homes, lest temptation get the best of me. All of the homes I looked at were around 1,000 square feet because that’s what I could afford in the neighbourhood I wanted.

It wasn’t all about the money, though. I also straight up did not want a large home for other reasons.

When I moved back to Halifax in January 2015, I found the perfect apartment. At two bedrooms, it was not too big and not too small. The only thing that was missing was storage. I kept my Christmas decorations in my bedroom closet, and my wine making gear was tucked under the bed.

Knowing that I could be perfectly happy in 700 square feet made the decision to buy a home with less than 1,000 square feet of living space easy, as long as it had storage and a green space.

Small Homes are Easier to Maintain

On top of having less space to clean and pay for, I also wanted less space to maintain. I’m a first-time homebuyer, and although I feel like I’d be pretty good at this whole home ownership thing, I was still apprehensive about the idea of being solely responsible for the upkeep and care of a home.

With no landlord to call, I would finally be flying without a net, and the idea of being responsible for a huge home seemed overwhelming. In comparison, the care and maintenance of a smaller home seemed like a good first step.

Small Homes are More Sustainable

It’s important to me that I minimize my impact on the world as much as possible. I’m acutely aware of the fact that we as North Americans consume too much of basically everything, so I didn’t want to add to that problem by buying a large home that is going to consume more resources.

Our small house is heated by oil right now, but we’ll be adding insulation and then converting to an environmentally friendly air source heat pump, and hopefully adding solar panels and an electric car down the road.

Choosing a small home also allowed me to choose a location that is more sustainable. We all know that living in suburbia not only kills your soul with the long commute but is also an unsustainable design. Choosing a home in a dense, walkable, bike and transit friendly neighbourhood meant I wouldn’t have to add a second car to my household, which would be bad for the environment and also my budget.

If They Can Do It, I Can Do It

Finally, the real clincher to buying a small home: I knew that living in a small space is entirely possible.

There is a reason so many of the homes in Halifax are already tiny. Small homes were the norm for the earlier part of the 20th century. Residents of this city didn’t bat at eye at the prospect of raising two or three children in a 1,000 square foot, two-bedroom home. In fact, lots of people do this today, all over the world!

If the person who built my home in 1929 could handle living in a small space, surely my husband and I, a (possibly permenantly) childless couple, can do the same.

A second bathroom is nice. I keep forgetting that there is actually a second bathroom in our bathroom because I’ve literally never used it. It’s old and creepy, but it would do the trick in a pinch!

Amy

My home is roughly 600-800 SQ FT of actual living space, it was built after WW2 for the vets returning home to atlantic canada (most commonly known in NB as a ‘dobie house’). It’s the perfect size, I find I hardly ever utilize the second level (Its much nicer just living on one). I find those shows like property brothers, etc. create this thought of ‘keeping up with the joneses’ but in reality it is just more house to keep clean!

In my area, when one of these homes go on the market it sells within a couple weeks of the listing (unless there is damage to it). They are small, reasonable priced, and built with quality materials. Perfect for today’s millennials, or retiring seniors.

There are many homes like that in Halifax too! What instantly comes to mind is the hydrostone houses, which were built (out of hydrostone!) to house the survivors of the Halifax explosion. They are small, well built, and in a quaint part of town. In fact, they are super in demand by millennials as the older people are gradually selling them. I tried to look at a few, but they all sold super fast!

Haha! Your comment about HGTV House Hunters is so true! “This bedroom will only just fit my king-size bed, it’s too small!”

Of course, that being said… our main floor is about 1200 sq ft, and that is mostly where we live as our basement isn’t totally finished yet, but we do plan on finishing it and using it as living space, which will bring our total up to around 2000. It’ll be a lot, and we really don’t need it, but our house is still one of the smaller ones in our neighbourhood. And as the step daughter gets older she’ll want her own place to hang out with her friends. Excuses, I know… I fail at small house living! 🙂

Omg HGTV is terrible for that! Or a young couple buying a four bedroom three bath house. What do you need all of this space for?

Carrie

Our family of 4 lived in a 935 sq ft house for 5 years. I found it a little small. We moved to our current 1680 sq ft house 15 years ago. At the time we thought we would eventually finish the basement. As it turns our we never did. The house has always felt a little big to me. A house around 1200-1300 sq feet would have been ideal for the four of us. When it’s just the two of us again 800-1000 sq feet would be more than enough.

A family of 4 in 935 square feet sounds a little tight, but then I remember I have family living in condos in Toronto that are around 1,000 square feet and they do alright.

Krista

We live in a 1240 square foot home plus a partially finished basement (4 bed/1.5 bath over the 2 floors) wouldn’t want to go smaller with 4 of us, keep saying I want more space but we really don’t need it.

Congrats on your new home! I live in a “baby split” in the suburbs east of Dartmouth – I work in the neighbourhood and all services are walkable here. The house is 800 sq ft with a fully finished lower level which is more than enough space for 2-3! Like most people of my generation I grew up in a family of 5 in a 1000 sq ft house. Having just one bathroom was a killer, though! An extra 2-piece would have made all the difference.

I grew up in a pretty sprawling house and us four kids had the downstairs bathroom and our parents had the upstairs bathroom, it was a good arrangement. I can see the bathroom thing becoming a potential problem with a lot of people, but nothing a little scheduling can’t fix. I’ll never understand dual vanities in a bathroom though.

Congrats on your new home! I love smaller homes, as they provide the impetus for constant decluttering. Our new home (bought just last month) is 88.2 square metres, or 947 square feet for a family of three. The only challenge is finding slim furniture that does not clutter!

I'm a part time runner, yogi, local foodie and personal finance aficionado. I blog about handling money as a debt ridden millennial. [read more]

My Money Facts

Starting Debt: $37,987.65Current Debt: $0.00
I paid off my original debt in just 24 months.